Sequence data is usually used for variable data printing (VDP), so as to identify a production status of the variable data printing. As shown in FIG. 1, variable sequence data is generated by the following steps:
Step 11: setting a desired ary, e.g., a decimal system or a hexadecimal system, for the variable sequence data, and setting a total amount, a step, an initial value, the number of digits and a variation mode of the variable sequence data to be generated;
Step 12: setting a desired prefix or suffix of the variable sequence data, e.g., a production date, a workshop code and a product identifier; and
Step 13: generating the variable sequence data according to the parameters set in Steps 11 and 12, and applying the generated variable sequence data to the variable data printing.
Currently, the ary system for the variable sequence data usually includes a decimal system (0-9), a hexadecimal system (0-9 and A-F), a 26-ary system (A-Z), and a 36-ary system (0-9 and A-Z). Each of these systems includes a fixed number of characters, and cannot adapt to the users' production requirements in many cases. For example, if the user wants to exclude a certain number or letter from the generated variable sequence data, this is impossible to be achieved by an existing technology, and the user has to filter the variable sequence data after it is generated. As a result, the production efficiency will be reduced and the use of the data will be affected.